The Texas Longhorns enter this season with more hype at the quarterback position since Vince Young played for Texas.
The excitement has continued to mount for Texas in the SEC after the team lost heartbreakingly to the eventual national champion, the Ohio State Buckeyes, in the College Football Playoff Semifinal. They also come into the season making back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinals.
Texas will now have Arch Manning under center as expectations automatically increase after sitting behind Quinn Ewers for two seasons. The Longhorns are loaded with talent on both sides of the ball and are expected to compete for a National Championship in Manning’s first full season.
We preview Texas’ upcoming 2025 season.
Can Arch Manning Lead Texas to a National Title?
Arch Manning Era Officially Begins
Yes, the highly anticipated Manning era at Texas is officially underway. The nephew of the Manning brothers appeared in 10 games last year, while starting in two games in place of the injured Ewers. He led the Longhorns to wins over Louisiana State and Mississippi State, but left a lot to be desired. Overall, Manning finished 61 of 90 for 939 yards, nine passing touchdowns, and two interceptions. He also had four rushing scores and 108 rushing yards. Manning will also be more of a dual-threat option than what Texas has had with Ewers in the past two seasons.
“I’m just here to play football. That’s kind of what I want my focus to be,” he said during SEC media days. “I feel like I’m a pretty normal guy. I like to hang out with my buddies, play golf. I take football pretty seriously. Other than that, just a regular guy.”
Offense
Besides a new look at quarterback, Texas will have four new starting offensive linemen. Head Coach Steve Sarkisian will have a tall task in shaping his team in the trenches.
In 2024, Texas’s offensive line finished as a finalist for the Joe Moore Award, which is the best offensive line in college football. However, this year’s five down linemen have a chance to match last year’s squad.
The offensive line will be led by Senior Cole Hutson at Center, having 13 starts and 38 appearances at different positions on the line.
Running Backs
The backfield, which has seen players such as Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Brooks, and Jaydon Blue move on to the NFL, is loaded once again going into 2025.
The position will see multiple players getting touches. Expected starter last season, CJ Baxter suffered a season-ending knee injury, and Freshman Christian Clark was held out due to an injury as well. They now return and will be leading the charge, with Quintrevion Wisner, who took over last season, to help carry the load.
Expect Texas to run the ball with purpose this season as Manning goes into his first full season at quarterback to relieve some of the pressure.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
The receiving core will be led by two returners from last season in DeAndre Moore Jr. and Ryan Wingo. Moore caught 39 passes for 456 yards, along with seven touchdowns. As for Wingo, he hauled in 29 receptions for 472 yards and two touchdowns as a true freshman.
Despite the experience of Wingo and Moore, this Longhorns pass-catching group will be young and inexperienced. Sarkisian dipped into the transfer portal and brought in a third wideout from Stanford in Emmet Mosley. Mosley had a productive year for Stanford by bringing in 48 passes for 525 yards and six touchdowns as a true freshman.
The receiver room will also receive help from recruiting. Texas landed 5-star recruit Kaliq Lockett, along with 4-stars Michael Terry III, Jamie French, and Daylan McCutchen.
At tight end, Sarkisian has to replace Gunnar Helm, who went to the next level. Texas did the best they could by jumping into the transfer portal and grabbing one of the best available in California’s Jack Endries. Endries brought in 56 passes for 623 yards and two touchdowns, while being one of the top tight ends in the ACC.
Expect Spencer Shannon, Jordan Washington, and Emaree Winston to aid Endries at the position.
Defense
Defensive Line
Defensive line is the number one position Sarkisian used to fill via the transfer portal. Out of the 10 transfer portal additions, five of them are defensive linemen.
Some of the transfers include Maraad Watson (Syracuse), Cole Brevard (Purdue), Hero Kanu (Ohio State), and Travis Shaw (North Carolina).
Brevard will be the most experienced, having made 23 starts and played in 37 games for Purdue. Kanu played in 15 games last season for Ohio State, but he just finished with four tackles due to a talented defensive line in front of him.
Colin Simmons, who is returning, could become one of the best defensive players in America at the rate he’s going. He was a consensus freshman All-American and won the Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Year award last season.
Another returner who was productive last year is Trey Moore. He garnered 6.5 sacks and recorded 10.5 tackles for loss.
Secondary
Texas was loaded with talent in the secondary last season. They lost Jahdae Barron and Andrew Mukuba to the NFL and will have to replace them. However, expect this position to be another strength for this team. They also tied for the FBS lead in total interceptions with BYU last season.
Texas’ secondary expectations will be just as high due to the amount of depth and experience returning to the team.
Senior Safety Michael Taaffe will be leading the back end of the defense after working his way to All-American consideration in 2024. He will have help from other veterans, Malik Muhammad and Jaylon Guilbeau. In total, the three as a whole combined for 172 tackles and 21 pass breakups in 2024.
At the corner, Jelani McDonald, Warren Roberson, and Kobe Black will all see significant time on the field. Expect to see Roberson frequently after appearing in all 16 games last season as a redshirt freshman.
The secondary will also see Jonah Williams, a five-star recruit, who is expected to show flashes of brilliance throughout the season. Williams was rated the top safety and the No. 6 overall player in the 2025 class, according to multiple recruiting sites.
Season Prediction
Wins: San Jose State, UTEP, Sam Houston State, Oklahoma, @ Kentucky, @ Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, @ Georgia, Arkansas, Texas A&M
Losses: @ Ohio State, @ Florida,
Overall Record: 10-2
Texas is one of the top picks to win the National Title this season and has a realistic chance of doing so. That being said, the schedule is tough in what is another expected strong year for the SEC conference.
The Longhorns will reach the College Football Playoff, but will come up short due to a lack of experience at the quarterback position with Manning. Look for the Longhorns to win it all next year in 2026.
Currently, Texas has the best odds to win the National Title this season at +600, according to FanDuel.
